1996–2005: Early roles and breakthrough Aquino began her acting career with a minor role in the action drama
Mumbaki (1996), where she was cast as the heiress of a
Banaue tribe. In 1998, Aquino portrayed a woman who has an affair with a married professor and later develops a relationship with his son in Jeturian's directorial debut,
Sana Pag-ibig Na. She then appeared in supporting roles in small-scale features, including
Serafin Geronimo: The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion (1998), ''
Bata, Bata... Pa'no Ka Ginawa? (1998), and Isusumbong Kita sa Tatay Ko'' (1999). In her television debut, Aquino served as one of the presenters for
ABS-CBN network's lifestyle magazine show
F! (1999), which aired until 2006. She won Best Lifestyle Show Host at the
Star Awards for Television for her work. Aquino had a more prominent role in
Olivia Lamasan's drama
Minsan, Minahal Kita (2000) alongside
Sharon Cuneta,
Richard Gomez, and
Edu Manzano. In the film, she played Gomez's jealous and controlling wife,
Nestor Torre Jr. of the
Philippine Daily Inquirer described her portrayal as "merely serviceable", but believed the antagonistic character changed people's perception of her, as she had previously played "sweet-and-lovely roles". Aquino's performance garnered critical acclaim; the
Philippine Daily Inquirers Pablo Tariman described her portrayal as "superbly" acted and one of the "most riveting" in the film. Lito Zulueta, also from the
Philippine Daily Inquirer, praised her "sensitive" delivery. She won Best Supporting Actress at the
Star Awards for Movies. Aquino and Roño reunited in the action drama
La Vida Rosa (2001),
Rosanna Roces,
Liza Lorena, and
Jiro Manio, in which she played a mother whose daughter is abducted by her ex-boyfriend (played by
Diether Ocampo). The critic Andrew Paredes of the
Manila Standard termed it a "rare local film that stands taller than a
Hollywood release" and commended Aquino's "wonderful, understated performance". That year, she starred in the
daytime drama series
Recuerdo de Amor (2001). In February 2002, Aquino made her stage debut in a
Folk Arts Theater production of
Eve Ensler's play
The Vagina Monologues, portraying a
Bosnian woman subjected to rape. (left) at a public reading of the 2002 local revival of the play
The Vagina Monologues Following her theater appearance, Aquino featured in
Mark Meily's critically acclaimed independent comedy-drama
Crying Ladies, co-starring Sharon Cuneta and
Hilda Koronel, playing a
professional mourner who has an affair with her friend's husband. The film premiered at the
2003 Metro Manila Film Festival, where it won
Best Picture.
Crying Ladies was screened internationally, including at the
Montreal International Film Festival,
Brussels Independent Film Festival, and
International Film Festival of Kerala. It was
submitted for consideration for
Best Foreign Language Film at the
77th Academy Awards. Eddie Cockrell from
Variety called the film a "vigorous, ambitious, big-hearted comic meller" and credited the ensemble for "comfortabl[y] navigating between broad comedy and legitimate pathos".
A. O. Scott of
The New York Times, however, thought that Aquino's part was fleeting and "yield[ed] little emotional payoff". Aquino had four releases in 2004. She appeared in supporting parts in the
parody fantasy series
Marinara and the drama series
Hiram. Aquino's performance was praised by a reviewer from the
Philippine Daily Inquirer, who considered her as one of the notable aspects of the production. Her final role of the year was in
Evolution of a Filipino Family, a
martial law-era
experimental drama from
Lav Diaz. With a running time of 643 minutes (11 hours), it is among the
longest films ever made. In
ICU Bed Number 7, an adaptation of the
Palanca Award-winning screenplay from writer-director Rica Arevalo, she took on the role of a daughter conflicted with
ending the life of her father (played by
Eddie Garcia) with terminal illness. Production of the film was completed in five days and it premiered at the
2005 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. She was a guest performer in the
Encantadia prequel fantasy series
Etheria (2005), playing an ancient goddess. Aquino reprised the role in the franchise's final installment
Encantadia: Pag-ibig Hanggang Wakas in 2006.
2006–2012: Critical success Set in
Sorsogon, the
Adolfo Alix-directed independent drama
Donsol (2006) featured Aquino and
Sid Lucero. The film tells the story of a woman suffering from breast cancer who returns to her hometown and finds companionship with a local
whale shark spotter (played by Lucero). Aquino was drawn to her character's subdued and restrained personality, explaining, "It was a role I really wanted to play since it didn't call for a lot of bravura in acting. It was a quiet role which appealed to me". In preparation, she spent time with
cancer support groups; and to get into her character's physical and mental space during filming, wore a
chest binder and cut her hair short. Philip Cu-Unjieng of
The Philippine Star found Aquino to be a "luminous screen presence", while Butch Francisco thought her portrayal was palpable and convincing. It was submitted for consideration at the
80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. Aquino next starred alongside
Cherry Pie Picache and Juliana Palermo in
Brillante Mendoza's drama
Summer Heat (2006), about a
dysfunctional family with a controlling patriarch (played by
Johnny Delgado). She received a
Gawad Urian nomination for Best Actress. Her other film appearances in 2006 include
Nasaan si Francis?,
Ina, Anak, Pamilya, and
Ang Pamana: The Inheritance. With
Us Girls, Aquino returned as a television presenter for the lifestyle magazine show, which ran for six years. In 2007, Aquino portrayed a woman sending anonymous letters to
Christopher de Leon's character in
Eddie Romero's final directorial effort,
Faces of Love (2007), which premiered at the
2007 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. Her next film part was as the television show producer in the
supernatural horror Siquijor: Mystic Island, which reunited her with Mendoza. It is about a television crew who visits the island of
Siquijor to film a documentary about local myths. That year, she also appeared in several television projects, including an episode of the anthology series , a role in the ensemble drama series
Maging Sino Ka Man: Ang Pagbabalik, In 2008, Aquino starred in the short film
God Only Knows directed by
Mark Reyes. It was screened at the
Asian American International Film Festival and
Tribeca International Film Festival in
New York City. She also featured in the supernatural fantasy series
Lobo as a
werewolf's mortal wife. Her next film release came in the
Johnson & Johnson-produced family drama
Botelya (2008), playing a single mother abandoned by an adulterous spouse. The following year, Aquino had a supporting role in
All About Eve (2009), a remake of the
eponymous South Korean show, starring
Iza Calzado and
Sunshine Dizon. The
Ravelo Komiks Universe series
Darna saw her portray the
white stone keeper and original
titular superhero, which was subsequently played by
Marian Rivera. To avoid being
typecast in roles of martyred wives, Aquino accepted the offer to star as Vera Cruz, a prominent fashion designer and main antagonist, in the revenge drama series
Magkaribal (2010). Unlike her previous assignments, the role allowed her to display an intimidating and hysterical personality. She found herself challenged by the role and said that working on the project was a "daunting task", though she admitted that her personal experience working in the fashion industry drew her to the part. with
Ricky Lo of
The Philippine Star finding Aquino to have "reaffirmed her thespian chops": "Watching Vera Cruz is like riding a roller-coaster of powerful emotions. One minute you hate her, wanting to crush her into pieces... and the next you sympathize with her". She received a
Star Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series nomination, and was also nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category at the
Asian Television Awards for the role. After a brief appearance in the family drama series
Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin (2011), Aquino starred in the series remake
Maria la del Barrio. As with
Magkaribal, her role in the adaptation of the
Mexican soap opera of the same name was the main villain. A journalist from
The Philippine Star thought the show was compelling and found her portrayal noteworthy. In 2012, Aquino featured in
R. D. Alba's dramatic thriller
Biktima, portraying a journalist who has
post-traumatic stress disorder after being abducted. She then played the lead role of a woman who is forced to care for her two sons after a car accident in the psychological horror
Amorosa, directed by
Topel Lee. Aquino, who has two children of her own, was drawn to the idea of playing a selfless mother and believed certain aspects of her character's life mirrored her own. The film only received a limited theatrical release. That same year, she co-starred with
Isabelle Huppert in Mendoza's psychological thriller
Captive. It is a partly fictionalized account of the
year-long abduction of civilians by members of the
Abu Sayyaf militant groups that began in a private island resort in
Palawan. The film was presented at the
2012 Berlin International Film Festival.
2013–2016: Established actress The year 2013 marked a high point in Aquino's career, as she was nominated for two
Gawad Urian Awards in the same year. She received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the
coming-of-age drama
Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita, in which she played a woman desired by a teenage girl. The director
Sigrid Andrea Bernardo wanted Aquino's characterization to be distinctive and unorthodox, and thus asked her to dissociate from traditional portrayals of women she had done in the past. The film was screened at the 2013 CineFilipino Film Festival, and critic Bayani San Diego Jr. of the
Philippine Daily Inquirer believed Aquino's supporting role particularly aided the narrative. Her performance won the Best Supporting Actress award from the Gawad Urian, the
Star Awards, the
Golden Screen Awards, and the
Gawad Tanglaw. Her second Gawad Urian nomination that year came from the independent drama
Porno, playing a
transgender woman with a
pornography addiction. Portraying the part proved difficult for Aquino, who found working on the film "nauseating but fulfilling". She added, "Just the idea, it's hard to swallow for me [because I am not a man]". Also in 2013, Aquino again played the antagonist in the suspense drama series
Apoy sa Dagat, prompting a journalist for
ABS-CBNnews.com to write that she "might be typecast as the perennial villainess after a string of [antagonistic] roles". Aquino asserted that her ventures as a television presenter allowed viewers to see her in a different persona. She won the Golden Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and received a
Star Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Aquino then starred with
Joel Torre,
Gerald Anderson, and
Piolo Pascual in
Erik Matti's crime thriller
On the Job. It tells the story of two hit-man prisoners (Anderson and Torre) who are temporarily freed to carry out
political executions. In it, she played the estranged wife of Torre's character, who conceals the nature of her husband's profession from their daughter. The film was presented at the
2013 Cannes Film Festival, and was generally well-received by critics. Aquino returned to the stage in the Red Turnip Theater's revival of
Patrick Marber's play
Closer. The production, directed by Ana Abad Santos and co-starring
Marc Abaya,
Cris Villonco, and Bart Guingona, opened in October 2013. Writing for the
Philippine Entertainment Portal, Jocelyn Valle criticized Aquino's lack of stage technique: "[She] look[ed] uneasy and tentative, thus compromising what could've been effective and felt performances." After playing a series of intense roles, Aquino actively looked for a light-hearted part. She found it in the drama series
Honesto (2013), which re-teamed her with Torre. Aquino described her character as comical and unpolished: "I am enjoying it so much, my bangs, my colored hair". She began 2014 by appearing in
Ikaw Lamang, a period drama series set in a fictional
plantation in 1960s
Bacolod, in which she played Rebecca Marivelez, a submissive and unhappy wife of a politician. That same year, she starred in
Astray, a short film about a lesbian couple. She also had a supporting role in the teen drama series
Bagito, starring
Nash Aguas and
Ella Cruz. Aquino returned to playing the main antagonist and villain in
And I Love You So (2015), a family drama series co-starring
Dimples Romana,
Julia Barretto, and
Miles Ocampo. a woman who abandons her family and later returns to make amends. She was unable to sympathize with Cervantes, as she could neither understand nor respect her character's actions. The critic Maridol Ranoa-Bismark described the show as conventional, but praised Aquino's portrayal, writing that she "shifts from pathetic to furious and back with such passion, you want to let her carry you away in her torrent of emotions again and again". Paolo Abad from
Rappler called the film "mesmerizing" and thought Aquino's role was "eclectic". The film premiered at the
2016 Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the
Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize. For her next project, she was cast as the antagonist in the romance series
Till I Met You, which was filmed in
Santorini. John Mark Yap of ABS-CBNnews.com took note of how much Aquino had stood out in her supporting role.
2017–present: Career expansion Aquino next joined the cast of the action drama series
Ang Probinsyano (2017), in which she starred as the military intelligence officer Brig. Gen. Diana Olegario. She considered her character as the "strongest, toughest, most courageous woman I had the honor of being", adding that the role helped ingrain morality and patriotism in her. In preparation for the part, she trained in
wushu. The show aired until August 2022, and became the longest-running Filipino drama series. Aquino was reluctant to accept the film producer Deo Endrinal's offer to star in the 2018 erotic romance
Glorious, but agreed after the director Connie Macatuno convinced her to take the role. It tells the story of a fifty-year-old woman attracted to a younger man (played by
Tony Labrusca). She found the script brave, but was nervous about the sex scenes. Aquino, however, took on the challenge to present a positive image for women, saying that "you should never be ashamed of your body or your age". Jill Tan Radovan of the
Philippine Entertainment Portal wrote: "[Aquino] can easily take on challenging roles... apart from her obvious acting talent, she has the grace and bearing required". The film was presented at the
2019 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.
Mac Alejandre's drama
Kaputol was her next release that year. A "film within a film", the production tells the story of an actor (
Alfred Vargas) and a film director (
Cherie Gil) working to finish a script. In it, Aquino portrayed Gil's same-sex partner. After a two-year absence on screen, Aquino appeared in two productions in 2021. She had a guest role in an episode of the anthology series
Maalaala Mo Kaya, in which she was paired with
Adrian Alandy, as high-school classmates who reconnect later as adults. Remarking on her performance, Gerry Plaza of ABS-CBNnews.com wrote that she "stood out with her reverberating intensity, even with a not-so-dramatic character". Aquino then reprised her role in the six-part
HBO Go miniseries
On the Job, a television sequel of the 2013 film of the same name. It received an
International Emmy Award for Best TV Movie or Miniseries nomination. Two years later, Aquino starred as Feliz Fiero in the revenge drama series
Dirty Linen (2023). Playing a woman with gambling debt, Aquino's character is the daughter of a wealthy matriarch (played by
Tessie Tomas) whose family becomes entangled in a murder plot. Under
Dreamscape Entertainment, Aquino portrayed a villainous fashion designer in the drama series
Fit Check: Confessions of an Ukay Queen, which premiered on
Amazon Prime Video on July 6, 2023. The following month, she joined the cast of
Senior High, an
iWantTFC mystery drama series. She played Tanya, a tough but reckless mother to twin daughters Sky and Luna (played by
Andrea Brillantes); she loses Luna to suicide but suspects foul play. To prepare for the role of a tattoo artist, Aquino dyed her hair purple and applied decorative ink on her upper and lower limbs. "One of her biggest strengths is her versatility", wrote ABS-CBNnews.com critic Liezel dela Cruz, "which allows her to play pretty much any character in any genre... far different from her other recent portrayals, proving time and again that she can do it all". The sequel series
High Street (2024) featured her reprising the role of Tanya from
Senior High. Following her work in television, Aquino returned to international cinema in the 2026 Taiwanese-Filipino co-production
April (also known as 丟包阿公到我家), directed by Freddy Tang. In the film, she portrayed a migrant worker who is forced to return to the Philippines while caring for an elderly Taiwanese man suffering from dementia. To authentically capture the role, Aquino had to learn and speak Hakka, a Taiwanese dialect.
April served as the Centerpiece film for the 20th Asian Pop-Up Cinema festival in Chicago, where it made its North American premiere. During the event on April 2, 2026, Aquino was honored with the Pinnacle Career Achievement Award. The award was presented by the Philippine Consul General in Chicago, recognizing her acclaimed performance as well as her extensive three-decade career in film and television. ==Reception and acting style==